IN 1969 ZAMBIA WAS RICHER THAN BRAZIL. RICHER THAN MALAYSIA. RICHER THAN SOUTH KOREA. THEN ONE COMMODITY PRICE COLLAPSED — AND ZAMBIA COLLAPSED WITH IT. HERE IS THE LESSON EVERY AFRICAN NATION MUST LEARN.
THIS IS THE POST ZAMBIA AND ALL OF AFRICA MUST DEBATE.
There is a country in Southern Africa that sits on some of the most valuable copper deposits on Earth.
A country where the mighty Zambezi River flows. Where Victoria Falls — one of the seven natural wonders of the world
— thunders with a sound so powerful the locals call it MOSI-OA-TUNYA. The Smoke That Thunders. ⚡
A country called ZAMBIA.
And in 1969 — just five years after independence
— Zambia was a MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRY. With one of the highest GDPs in Africa — THREE TIMES that of Kenya,
TWICE that of Egypt, and higher than Brazil, Malaysia, Turkey and South Korea. (cornell)
Higher than SOUTH KOREA. 勞
Think about where South Korea is today — one of the world’s most powerful tech economies. Samsung. Hyundai. K-pop conquering the planet.
In 1969 — ZAMBIA was richer.
So what happened?
The story of Zambia is the story of copper. And it is a lesson Africa must NEVER forget.
Kenneth Kaunda — Zambia’s first president and Pan-Africanist — nationalized the copper mines in 1973, creating state-owned Zambia
Consolidated Copper Mines. His philosophy of “Zambian Humanism” directed copper profits toward building hospitals, schools, and universities. Education expanded. Healthcare improved. Infrastructure grew. (TRT Afrika)
This was VISION. This was what African leadership is supposed to look like.
By 1973, Zambia had an urban population of 1 million out of 4 million total. 750,000 Zambians were in waged employment. (African Development Bank Group)
In an African country that had barely been independent for a decade.
And then — the trap sprang.
Copper prices collapsed in 1975. Oil prices shot up in 1973. The government, committed to high spending, reacted by borrowing heavily abroad and drawing on reserves. Investment declined. Efficiency collapsed. (Journal of Democracy)
One commodity. One price drop. And everything built on that commodity — TREMBLED.
Zambia’s copper, which fuels global progress, could not save Zambia itself. In 2020 Zambia defaulted on its sovereign debt — the first African country to do so during the pandemic. The roots of that crisis lie not just in debt mismanagement but in the failure to convert mineral wealth into lasting prosperity. (pressreader)
The country that was richer than South Korea in 1969 — defaulted on its debt in 2020.
But here is what ZAMBIA never lost.
Unlike its neighbours, Zambia has enjoyed remarkable political stability since independence.
Thanks to Kaunda’s “One Zambia, One Nation” philosophy, the country has avoided the ethnic and religious conflicts that have torn much of the region apart. (pressreader)
No civil war. No genocide. No ethnic massacres. In a region where all of those things happened to neighbours — Zambia kept its PEACE. ️
And that peace — that stability — is the foundation on which Zambia is now REBUILDING.
President Hakainde Hichilema — who ran for president SEVEN times and was even arrested on treason charges before finally winning in 2021 — is rebuilding Zambia’s economy and international credibility.
And copper? It is coming BACK.
AI technology — trained partly using data derived from copper itself — recently identified new massive copper deposits in Zambia, a perfect metaphor for how the future loops back to depend on Zambia’s natural wealth. (pressreader)
AI found new copper in Zambia. The world is rushing toward electric vehicles — and every EV battery needs copper.
Zambia is sitting on the mineral that will power the FUTURE.
The lesson is not to abandon copper. The lesson is to PROCESS IT IN ZAMBIA. Manufacture it in Zambia. Add the value IN ZAMBIA before it leaves. So that when the world buys Zambia’s copper — it buys ZAMBIAN PRODUCTS. Not just Zambian raw material.
The Smoke That Thunders is still thundering. ⚡
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The Smoke That Thunders. Zambia’s greatest days are still AHEAD.
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